The previous two editions of this newsletter ranked the best infielders and outfielders during the first half of the current season, using the traditional cutoff point of July 4.
We extend our examination today to the two remaining offensive positions — catchers and designated hitters.
I calculated the overall base values (OBV) for all batters who made at least 150 plate appearances up to Independence Day and played at least 50 percent of the time behind the plate or as a DH.
OBV is calculated by comparing the bases reached by a given hitter (through singles, doubles, triples, home runs, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices) with the number that an average batter would have attained under the same circumstances.
Take Shohei Ohtani, the DH for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani accumulated 279 bases by July 4, and he made 237 outs. The typical big-league hitter would have reached 158 bases with the same number of outs. Ohtani surpassed that total by 121 bases, thereby setting his OBV at plus-121.
The top catchers in OBV were Connor Wong of the Boston Red Sox in the American League and Willson Contreras of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League.
The latter undoubtedly comes as a surprise. Willson Contreras missed a considerable portion of the first half with a forearm fracture, while brother William Contreras of the Milwaukee Brewers started the season on fire and was voted the NL’s starting catcher in the All-Star Game. But Willson actually accumulated a larger OBV than his brother in 44 fewer games.
The top designated hitters in the first half were Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros in the AL and Ohtani in the NL.
Listed below are the top five players in both leagues at both positions.
1. Connor Wong, Red Sox, OBV 27
2. Adley Rutschman, Orioles, OBV 25
3. Salvador Perez, Royals, OBV 22
4. Ryan Jeffers, Twins, OBV 18
4. Logan O’Hoppe, Angels, OBV 18
1. Willson Contreras, Cardinals, OBV 33
2. William Contreras, Brewers, OBV 23
2. Will Smith, Dodgers, OBV 23
4. Patrick Bailey, Giants, OBV 15
5. Elias Diaz, Rockies, OBV 8
1. Yordan Alvarez, Astros, OBV 69
2. Brent Rooker, Athletics, OBV 44
3. Ryan O’Hearn, Orioles, OBV 28
4. Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees, OBV 12
5. Justin Turner, Blue Jays, OBV 3
1. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers, OBV 121
2. Marcell Ozuna, Braves, OBV 67
3. Kyle Schwarber, Phillies, OBV 48
4. Joc Pederson, Diamondbacks, OBV 41
5. J.D. Martinez, Mets, OBV 24
I also, of course, tabulated lists of the players who had the worst stats at today’s two positions.
The catchers with the lowest overall base values at the July 4 cutoff were Christian Vazquez of the Minnesota Twins in the American League and Nick Fortes of the Miami Marlins in the National. The corresponding tailenders among designated hitters were Nelson Velazquez of the Kansas City Royals and Nick Martini of the Cincinnati Reds.
All had OBVs that were below zero, indlcating that they reached fewer bases than a typical major leaguer would have attained under the same circumstances.
Here are the bottom three for each category.
The Los Angeles Dodgers sit in first place in the National League West. Yawn.
What else is new?
L.A. is comfortably on its way to its 11th NL West title since 2013. Its only miss — and it hardly seems fair to call it that — came in 2021. The Dodgers rolled that year to a 106-56 record, which would have given them a first-place margin of at least six games in any other division. But the San Francisco Giants stampeded to a 107-55 mark and won the NL West by a single game.
The following graph tracks the Dodgers’ divisional finishes since the turn of the century. They’ve won 14 titles in all (counting this year’s anticipated win), and they’ve never finished last. Not once.
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It’s hard to believe, but 2024 is the 25th season of the 21st century. That means we’re almost a quarter of the way through. (I don’t subscribe to the theory that the century began in 2001, as I’ve previously noted. I’m with 2000 all the way.)
Today’s quiz covers hitting accomplishments during the first 24 seasons (2000-2023), leaving us just short of the quarter pole. Flip to the bottom of this newsletter for the answers.
1. Which batter had the most games in the 21st century with three or more home runs?
2. Who had the most games with at least six runs batted in?
3. Which runner attained at least three stolen bases in the largest number of games since 2000?
4. Which batter had the most games with four or more walks?
5. Who suffered at least five strikeouts in the most games?
A.J. Burnett enjoyed plenty of success. The righthander won a total of 164 games for the Marlins, Blue Jays, Yankees, Pirates, and Phillies, including 160 victories between the beginning of the century (2000) and his retirement (2015).
Burnett topped 200 strikeouts in three different seasons, and he even led the American League with 231 K’s for the Jays in 2008.
But he also had his erratic periods. He twice led the American League in wild pitches — and once did the same in the National League. His 21st century total of 161 wild pitches, in fact, remains the most for any big leaguer.
Here are the 10 pitchers who uncorked the most wild pitches between April 2000 and July 4, 2024, according to Baseball Reference:
1. A.J. Burnett (2000-2015), WP 161
2. Felix Hernandez (2005-2019), WP 156
3. John Lackey (2002-2017), WP 125
4. Edwin Jackson (2003-2019), WP 108
5. Tim Lincecum (2007-2016), WP 107
5. James Shields (2006-2018), WP 107
7. Ervin Santana (2005-2021), WP 104
8. Sonny Gray (2013-2024), WP 103
9. Zack Greinke (2004-2023), WP 101
9. Clayton Kershaw (2008-2023), WP 101
The victorious version of the 1984 Tigers returned to prominence on the week of July 16-22. Detroit had stumbled to a 5-10 record between June 25 and July 12, but three subsequent triumphs in Minnesota set the stage for a bounce back to winning ways.
The Tigers welcomed the White Sox and Rangers to Detroit between the 16th and 22nd. They took two of three from Chicago and all four from Texas. The combined score for the week was Tigers 37, Opponents 22.
Detroit’s record at daybreak on July 23, 1984, was 66-29 for a .695 winning percentage. The club, which ranks as the very best of baseball’s Modern Era (1961 to today), held a nine-game lead that morning over the Toronto Blue Jays, the second-place team in the American League East.
There was a certain monotony for the Modern Era’s losingest team, the New York Mets, during the week of July 16-22, 1962. They dropped all seven games they played.
The week began with a tight 3-2 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco Giants. Roger Craig surrendered only one earned run in seven innings of work, yet he still took the loss for the Mets. That dropped his record to 5-13.
The Pittsburgh Pirates then took a pair from New York, and the Cincinnati Reds won four straight. Craig suffered another heartbreaking defeat on July 20, giving up only seven hits while pitching a complete game. But the Mets fell 3-1 to the Reds.
The worst was yet to come. Manager Casey Stengel brought Craig in from the bullpen in the bottom of the ninth on July 22, just two days after his latest start. The score was tied 3-3. The only batter the reliever faced, Marty Keough, blasted a game-winning homer for Cincinnati.
Craig ended the week with a 5-15 record, and the Mets were 24-70. New York languished 39 games behind the National League leaders, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
1-A. (Betts may seem the least likely slugger in this group, but he had six games with three or more homers. Rodriguez came next with five.)
2-C. (Rodriguez piled up six or more RBIs in 13 different games. The only other batter to reach double digits in the 21st century was Cruz with 10 games of six-plus runs batted in.)
3-B. (Hamilton stole at least three bases in 19 games. Strange-Gordon was second with 14.)
4-A. (Bonds was the easy winner, drawing at least four walks in 16 games in the current century. He doubled the total of the runner-up, Thome, who had eight.)
5-A. (Baez struck out five times in three different games, an unhappy accomplishment unmatched in the 21st century.)
